Signal-lamp



A. E. CLIFT.

SIGNAL LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20. 1919.

1,332,607. Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

fg I- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT E. CLIFT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SIGNAL-LAMP.

Application filed June 20, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT E. CLIFT, a citizen of the United States of America, a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signal-Lamps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to signal lamps which comprise lens carrying shells rotatable within cylindrical supports and having therein removable fonts by means of which the lens carrying shells may be rotated. In signal lamps of this kind the fonts are provided with locking means serving to connect the lens carrying shells to the cylindrical supports surrounding them and hold the former in positions to which they may be rotatably adjusted, and also serve to support the fonts which are removable through the bottoms of the lamps. In such lamps, as heretofore made, there has been no provision to prevent the descent-of the fonts when the locking means carried thereby are Withdrawn from engagement with the rotatable lens carrying shells, and the object of my present invention is to provide a stop detachably secured to the lens carrying shell which serves to prevent escape of the font even though the locking means associated therewith be entirely released from, the shell. Said removable stop surrounds the cylindrical support at the lower end thereof, beneath the font and is free of attachment to either the lens carrying shell or the font so that said shell and font maybe rotated as usual within the support.

Figure I is a side elevation of a signal lamp provided with my improvement.

Fig. II is an enlarged inverted plan of the bottom of the lamp.

Fig. III is an enlarged horizontal sect-ion I taken on line IIIIII, Fig. I.

Fig. IV is an enlarged vertical section through the bottom of the lamp.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 designates a cylindrical support in which is mounted a rotatable lens carrying shell 2. The lens carrying shell is provided with an annular external bead 3, or other suitable form of abutment which rests upon the upper end of the support 1, and said shell, rotatable within said support, extends to the lower end thereof. Any suitable number of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Serial No. 305,630.

lenses 4L may be supplied upon the lens carrying shell and in some forms of the lamp it may be provided with lens obstructing shields 5 which are supported in connection with the support 1.

Within the lens carrying shell is a font 6 which detachably engages the lens carrying shell to provide for rotation of said shell within the supporting sleeve 1. The detachable engagement may be provided in any suitable manner such as by the formation of notches in a rim at the upper end of the font which engages with pins 7, projecting from the lens carrying shell. A hand grip 8 secured to a rim (3 at the lower end of the font (1 serves as a means for rotating the font and the lens carrying shell to which the font is fitted, and said hand grip has arranged therein a spring actuated latch pin 9 which is adaptable to be projected through apertures in the rim 6, the lower surrounding portion of the shell 2, and into apertures 1 in the support 1 to hold the lens carrying shell in any position to which it may be adjusted by rotating it within said support through the medium of the hand grip 8.

All of the devices thus far described are are old in signal lamps as heretofore manufactured and no invention per se is herein claimed for them.

10 designates a stop ring surrounding the lower end of the support 1. Said stop ring may be secured to the support in any suitable manner as for example by pins 12 extending outwardly from the support and entering into bayonet slots 13 extending into the ring from its upper edge. A spring catch it secured to the stop ring is apertured for engagement with one of the pins 12, to hold the ring from turning on the support 1, and when the catch is in engagement with one of the pins as seen in Fig. 3, apertures 15 in the ring 10 coincide with the apertures 1 in the sleeve 1.

The stop ring 10 is provided at its lower edge with an inwardly extending horizontal annular ledge 11 which extends beneath the lower end of the rim 6 of the font 6. The font rests and turns on this ledge when the font is rotated for adjustment of the lens carrying shell 2. To provide a suitable bearing engagement between the lower end of the font rim 6 and the ledge 11 of the stop ring I preferably form at the lower end of the font rim 6 an outturned flange 16, see Fig. IV.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that when the'stop ring 10 is applied to the cylindrical shell 1 of a signal lamp as herein described, the font of the lamp maybe rotated at will to rotate the lens carrying shell of the lamp, and that even though the locking pin 9 be completely disengaged from the lens carrying shell there is no liability of the font descending from its position within the shell for the reason that the ledge 11 serves to uphold the font. When it is desired to re move the font the stop ring is separated from the supporting sleeve 1 and the font may then be withdrawn as usual from its customary position in the lamp.

I claim:

1. The combination, in a signal lamp, of a support, a shell rotatable in said support having an open lower end, a font within said shell having means for engagement with the shell to impart rotation thereto, said font being removable through the open lower end of said shell, and a stop movable relative to said support whereby said font is confined in said shell when disconnected from said shell.

2. A combination with a signal lamp comprising a support, a lens carrying shell rotatable within said support, and a font for rotating said shell removable through the bottom of the latter, of a stop ring detachably secured to said support and extending beneath said font.

3. The combination with a signal lamp comprising a cylindrical support, a lens carrying shell within said support having an open lower end, and a font for rotating said shell removable through the bottom of the latter, of a stop ring detachably secured to said support, said stop ring extending beneath said font to prevent downward movement of the font through the open lower end of said shell.

4. The combination with a signal lamp comprising a cylindrical support, a lens carrying shell rotatable within said cylindrical support, and a font within said shell whereby the latter may be rotated said shell being open at its lower end to permit the removal of said font, of a stop ring surrounding said cylindrical support and detachably secured thereto, and having a ledge extending beneath the lower end of said font to confine said font within said shell.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto affix my signature.

ALBERT E. CLIFT. 

